Posted by LlurpsieNoodle on June 1, 2007, at 13:42:37
In reply to Re: My session today ;-) » Happyflower, posted by gazo on May 31, 2007, at 13:30:52
trumpeter flowers
that is your essence, you know?falling out of his chair laughing (I hope it wasn't about me and Kk's little debate and challenge!)
He's probably right about the exercise. You know, it doesn't have to be a big deal though. Even a ride around town on your bike or walking fast around the high school track will give you a sense of accomplishment and put you more in tune with your body.
And now for the meat of my post
There is a book that my T recommended to me "Radical Acceptance" which you can order from Amazon or your local bookstore.
In a highly relevant section on physical pain there are a few useful exercises on learning to live with pain. I have suffered from chronic pain in the past and found relief through alternative therapies focusing on body awareness and learning about our habits of how we hold and use our body.
Back to the exercises on managing to live with physical pain. Here are a few nuggets to think about
1) pain is a condition of being human. You are human (surprise!)
2) suffering is exacerbated by resisting pain.
-this leads to tension
-this leads to bad feelings about our bodies and our abilities to control our bodies
-this leads to ignoring our bodies when they are crying out for attention the most
3) the acceptance part- I think you can manage a few moments of this as you do different tasks around the house. It will only take a few moments
-pause
-do a scan of your body from crown to pinky toe: what hurts the most, what parts are tense, what parts make you mad, what parts feel good, what parts are you neglecting
-go to the place where your body hurts the most: tell your pain "I am here. I am listening to you. I am not ignoring or fighting you. We will get through this together. I accept you. You are a part of me, and I invite you to become part of my experience.Some people can carve out some quiet time during the day to meditate on these ideas. To allow the pain to just be a part of you, just like your little toe. Don't just visually LOOK at your little toe, experience it through living THROUGH it. Imagine that there is a pulse coursing through the toe. Imagine that there are bones and tendons that are gently connected, and working together.
We "practice" meditation. There is no such thing as "mastering" these feelings. It is only a process of learning more about ourselves, and accepting whatever sensations come to rest in our minds and our bodies.
Depression:
There is part of your mind that is hurting. Can you just "be" with your hurt? Can you NOT resist it, but rather LISTEN to what it is telling you? This is what psychotherapy does (on a good day!). Rather than resisting our feelings and thoughts, we just let them spill forth, and allow our therapist to become a "container" for our thoughts and feelings. To help us listen to ourselves, and to cast a new light on things. This is why we pay them so much. Because they can shine a light that will help us find the path that is surest and clearest.The path your therapist is helping you discover is not always straight. There are places where you are going to have to jump over gullies. places where you will have to question your guide and maybe decide on your own which fork to take.
I wish you all the best, HappyFriend, and I'm sorry this post is so long.
Sometimes it's SO hard to process complicated information when we are depressed.
And one final question for you:
Have you ever felt like this before?
Is this your first brush with "major depression"?I understand your fear, your bewilderment of "how could this happen to ME?
If you have struggled before, tell yourself quietly "I have been here. I know that I survived before. I know more than I ever knew before. I will make it through this challenge and be stronger for it"
-Ll
poster:LlurpsieNoodle
thread:760507
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/psycho/20070525/msgs/760768.html